Hanoi

Sorry, I skipped a day on the blog. Things have been hectic since getting into Hanoi. This city is crazy! So many people. So many scooters. So much shopping. So much noise. So much smog....you get the point.

Anyway, I feel like I just smoked 2 packs of cigarettes. My lungs are burning, my head hurts, and I just took my third shower. So, no bloggin' for me...I'm off to bed. Luckily, Tony volunteered to do the honors today. Here's his thoughts:

We just completed our second night here in Hanoi. There is a very warm and charming feel to this hustling city with a lot of history and urban beauty. However, all that is really hard to enjoy due to one major factor-pollution. Especially the horrible exhaust coming out of the hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of motorbike/scooters. I can see they don't have a biannual 'emissions' test like our state DMV mandates. Being a kid from the Seattle area-I would say I live in one of the cleanest urban areas. This town would easily be the smoggiest place I ve ever visited. Its so bad, we purposely took time to rest in our hotel during the day b/c its the busiest and most motorbike congested. Hanoi makes DaNang motorbike riders look like senior citizens in Volvos (no offense Ballard) and their air quality a Utopia.

They need like 100 air purifiers on every block. Enough said of the pollution (but I do have to say that Frommer's travel book doesn't say anything about the pollution). Last night we laid low and did some shopping and sat on a 4th floor restaurant's balcony. Took the sights from Hoan Kiem Lake and the lights of all the stores and the motorbike/cars. It was our first time really walking around in any city since we've been in Vietnam. The motorbikes again spoil our enjoyment as everyone parks on the damn sidewalk. There is literally no room their that we are often forced onto the street in many cases within inches of a motorbike, car, bicycle, and rickshaw. We learned quickly that when you cross the street, you always commit to what route you're taking and maintain your pace and let the riders/drivers maneuver around you. If you make any sudden stops or speed up too quickly, you've ruined the mutual agreement between riders and pedestrians and you'll get slammed.

Today, we paid our respects at the temple that is on an island in the Lake. We saw the morning groups of people doing tai chi, praying sessions and just walking around. I had some native come up to me, near a statue, and asked if I could be in a picture with him. No reason, he just asked, his friend quickly snapped and he was off. We then went to Haolo Prison (Hanoi Hilton during the war) and toured its concrete grounds and saw pictures of old prisoners, which included John McCain. They also had his flight gear, uniform and parachute displayed. After that Paul and I toured what was the messiest and craziest 'market' Ive ever seen. Paul could not haggle with this old lady for a deal on a duffel bag. She drove a tough bargain. More walking around in smog and then finally a dinner on another balcony where we had to battle the smog on the outside and the cigarette smoke on the inside. Im now packing for our overnighter to Halong Bay-this will be a much needed rest as it is supposed to really a Utopia in its sights but we're more hoping for fresher air. Cheers.--Tony Dao

(This is McCain's flight suit that he was captured in. The photos are of the "Hanoi Hilton" prison where he was kept)